[Web4lib] Interesting article about the future of the librarycatalog

[Larry Campbell]

And/or, what if we didn't try to use a single database for all of our 
information resources (which the catalog hasn't been, isn't, and can't 
be anyway), but instead aimed for a more flexible interface to unify 
user access to a variety of resources -- reserving the catalog proper 
for what it was originally designed to be: a reasonably comprehensive 
database for the description, location, and circulation status of our 
*physical* resources?

Larry Campbell
Librarian, Information Systems and Technology
UBC Library
larry.campbell at ubc.ca

Lin Light wrote:

>What if we had a bib record that didn't dwell so much on the physical
>description and had an expanded 520 field where the details of the contents
>would take the place of some of these arcane subject headings. Many of use
>only to those specializing on that subject. 
>Oh by the way, I'm head of Technical and Automated Services.
>Oh blasphemer me.
>
>Lin
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org
>[mailto:web4lib-bounces at webjunction.org] On Behalf Of B.G. Sloan
>Sent: Tuesday, January 16, 2007 2:16 PM
>To: web4lib at webjunction.org; lita-l at ala.org
>Subject: [Web4lib] Interesting article about the future of the
>librarycatalog
>
> 
>  Coyle, Karen, and Diane Hillman. Resource Description and Access (RDA):
>Cataloging Rules for the 20th Century. D-Lib Magazine, 13(1/2).
>January/February 2007.
>  http://www.dlib.org/dlib/january07/coyle/01coyle.html 
>   
>  The subtitle is maybe a little too subtle. :-)
>   
>  Abstract:
>   
>  "There is evidence that many individuals and organizations in the library
>world do not support the work taking place to develop a next generation of
>the library cataloging rules. The authors describe the tensions existing
>between those advocating an incremental change to cataloging process and
>others who desire a bolder library entry into the digital era."
>   
>  An excerpt:
>   
>  "Libraries have lost their place as primary information providers,
>surpassed by more agile (and in many cases wealthier) purveyors of digital
>information delivery services...[T]he library's approach to user service and
>the user interface is not competing successfully against services like
>Amazon or Google...[L]ibrarians need to undertake a broad analysis of how
>the changing information technology and our rapidly evolving information
>resources are changing user behavior. The goal of that analysis should be to
>mold the user service of the future, recognizing that users and their
>information needs should be our primary focus. This will mean that our
>vision of the catalog and of cataloging must make a radical transformation."
>   
>  Bernie Sloan
>
> 
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